Grocery Growth Ray To Hit Ketchup, Chips

By Ben PopkenFebruary 24, 2009

A grocery growth ray is set to hit a popular condiment and several kinds of baked corn with names ending “tos.” To push the brands as being good values, Heinz will be selling slightly larger ketchup bottles, and Frito-Lay is adding 20% to Tostitos, Fritos, Cheetos and Doritos – without raising the price. Unlike the grocery shrink ray, you can bet this change will be loudly trumpeted on the package.

So three months ago, the ketchup bottle was 12 ounces for $3. Two months ago, it was shrunk to 10.5 ounces for $3. Now it will be increased to 12 ounces and the package will say NEW LARGER SIZE and the price will go to $3.50. Sneaky marketers

This will be an easy way to add 20% to the bottle while adding 50% to the price tag.

I stopped buying “real” ketchup a long time ago, about the time the generics became less than 1/4 of the price of the real thing. Sure, they’re not as nice, but I’ve found all you need to do is add some salt. Or sometimes vinegar. And for the price difference, I just don’t mind that much.

My personal favourite subs: Aylmer’s and Hunts. Unfortunately, the grocers only sell these when Heniz product price breaks the $4 mark on the most popular size (can’t remember, but I think it’s something like 750 mL to 1 L).

All the McDonald’s (and pretty much everywhere else) here have been hiding them behind the counter. You have to ask for them, and then you have to specify just how many you want if you don’t just want one or two. They’d balk at giving you 10 or 20, or if you’re not a take-out customer. :)

For those wondering how everyone gets ketchup with their eat-in meals, they usually have those gross condiment pumps (which are usually empty) and sample cups.

Actually, for ketchup, it’s been so long since I’ve found “restaurants” with packets, I bought a box of packets (~500 for $8… I still can’t figure out why they hide them, can’t be the price) for my desk at work. Stays fresher longer than a bottle and it’s still 4L, so it’s still a reasonably good value in this case.

This is great news. Companies have continued to down-size packaging claiming that it maintains sales volume by keeping a ‘price point’. I’ve had my fill of these HIDDEN price increases and have stopped buying tuna and ice cream for just that reason. The consumers only recourse is to speak with your feet.

Yep, that’s about right, and it’s what makes ketchup the finest condiment in history. It’s allegedly one of the few rare substances to tingle all five of the taste sensations simultaneously, including the mysterious “umami.” I loves me some ketchup. Who needs tomatoes?

“Unlike the grocery shrink ray, you can bet this change will be loudly trumpeted on the package” – When I read this, I laughed out loud with a mental picture of a container of ice cream. The package proudly states; “NOW WITH 25% LESS FOR FREE”

@Alex Duzik: That’s about what it is in Virginia…and usually everything in VA is way more! Check the Costco by Jordan Creek…they usually have the best deal for decent milk (Iowa Milk > Florida milk, which tastes like water).

@emona: Eggs are cheep…or would you like them to squeeze a 6th chicken into the battery cage?

$5.49 a “gallon” (actually for a total of 4 L of milk divided into three bags) in most grocery stores when you go across the border. $3.97 in Walmart, but that’s a heavily advertised loss leader, IMHO.

Of course, I’m lactose intolerant, so I don’t care, but my wife drinks it like it’s going out of style. :(

All Frito-Lay brand chips have shrunk every year. So by increasing their current bag sizes, the bags will probably only as big as they were a year ago yet still smaller than what they were 2 years ago.

@Vanilla5: Yeah, but look at all that “air” (or whatever gas it is) you’re getting to keep those NCAA BOWL GAME chips nice and in one piece. You don’t want crumbs with your NCAA BOWL GAME Salsa do you?

@MisterE: Nope, I think they’ll boldly proclaim “same price as smaller size” as a promotional price (and eat the loss), then jack it up within a few months to where it’s higher per ounce than the old one.